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DEAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS AND RULE VIOLATIONS
In the last three weeks, the deaf people in three different countries of the globe witnessed the three major sporting events of international caliber. The World Championships in Basketball were held in Athens, Greece ( July 18-28 ), in Chess - in Vilnuis, Lithuania ( July 21 - August 1 ) and in Golf - Dublin, Ireland ( July 29 - August 2 ). Next Saturday, the city of Auckland, New Zealand, will be the venue of the inaugural World Championship in Rugby, which will last till August 23.
Of the four above-mentioned Championships, one - in Basketball - was conducted under the auspices of the CISS organization , in which its three present members of the CISS Legal Commission - Jerald Jordan, Donalda Ammons and John Lovett - are currently engaged in my still-ongoing lawsuit case before the USA District Court for the District Court of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
The main aim of this story is to examine the work of the CISS Legal Commission members, who were in charge of drafting, proposing and encouraging to accept the rules of the Deaf World Championships Regulations and, consequently, how these rules affected the organization and competition of the first ever World Championship in Basketball held in Greece last month.
In my lawsuit paper filings last year, among the other things, I called the World Championship project by Lovett and Ammons as "a fantasying and unrealistic one!" Let me fully quote as to what I wrote in my
September 17, 2001 Verified Complaint before the USA District Court ( page 36 ):
"Much of the time at the ( 37th CISS ) Congress was spent and wasted on Lovett's and Ammons' unrealistically fantasying project - the staging of World Championships in different sports and in different countries between 2002 and 2011 ( I was the one, who, among the other things, had reservations about this project because of the CISS leadership's continued lack of qualified man power and because in the last six years there were constant cancellations of the World Championships, for example: bowling
( in 1995 USA was supposed to be a host ), handball (1998, Iceland ), football and cycling ( Spain, 2000 ), alpine skiing ( Slovenia, 2000 ) and cross country running ( Algeria, 2001 )."
Do my above words have justification and reality? I will let you judge these by getting further familiarized with the contents of this ongoing material and its many newly-revealed facts, which will support my above prophetically bold statement.
GREECE - MEN'S 2002 WORLD CHAMPION
The Athens event was contested in the two different categories: men's and women's. The men assembled teams from 11 countries representing 3 different regions ( Europe, the Americas and Asia/Pacific ).
The women had just 4 countries from just two regions: Europe and the Americas.
The host Greek team produced the biggest sporting sensation in the deaf world - in the men's gold medal game, the Greeks defeated the USA team, the reigning 12-time Deaflympic Summer Games champion since 1957, with a score of 93 to 83!
The final placings in the men's championship were as follows:
1. Greece
2. USA
3. Slovenia
4. Lithuania
5. Italy
6. Ukraine
7. Poland
8. Russia
9. Taiwan
10. Turkey
11. Great Britain.
Thus, at its own homeground - Athens - the Greek team was officially declared as the first ever world champion in basketball!
IS THE WOMEN'S USA TEAM THE WORLD CHAMPION?
As for the women, the USA team led by its superstar player and 1997 Deaf World Female Athlete of the Year Award finalist, Rhonda Jo Miller, had an easy time by defeating the Lithuanian squad in the final game with a score of 85 to 31. Lithuania finished second, Greece - third and the Ukraine -last, fourth.
Is the women's USA team the official 2002 world champion? And why not?
Before accurately answering to the above puzzling questions, there was, however, a very big problem and confusion related to the status of the women's competition in Athens.
On July 27, 2002, immediately after the end of the final game between the USA and Lithuania, many people, including the media, rushed to announce the USA team as the newest world champion!
However, this lofty title conferring to the women's USA team - as a world champion - was in direct violation of the CISS Legal Commission-produced Deaf World Championships Regulations, Rule WC 1 G!
The Rule WC 1 G states that "the Deaf World Championship can only take place where there are five or more CISS members from at least three regions."
Therefore, in a strict adherence to that Rule, the women's USA team can not officially be claimed as the world champion because the women's tournament in Athens did not exactly meet the criteria of the Rule WC 1 G! Instead, it will be appropriate and plain to name the victorious USA team as "the winner of the international women's basketball tournament in Athens!"
MY COMMENTARY AND OTHER RULE VIOLATIONS
It is my position that, in order not to confuse the public and media and not to offend the female players, the CISS along with the Hellenic Athletic Federation of the Deaf ( HAFD ) Organizing Committee and the Deaf International Basketball Federation ( DIBF ) - the three organizations that cooperated with each other in staging the basketball events in Athens - should officially have informed the public, media and heads of the four national women's teams in advance that the event for the women in Athens, for certain reason, was to be billed as the international tournament event ( not a World Championship event ).
It is still unclear as to how and why Lovett and Ammons allowed those who were in charge of organizing the event in Athens to publicize the women's event as the "1st World Basketball Championship" or "1st WDBC" during the women's six competition days on July 20, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 27. Such an event labeling, let me repeat, was in direct contradiction of the Rule WC G 1!
While I am very supportive for organizing of as many international sporting events for the deaf in any sports and in any part of the globe as possible, I do strongly feel that in this contemporary and modern world, in order to run the organization successfully and efficiently as well as to be a responsible and law-abiding organization's leader and supervisor, the organization's rules must be observed and honored
first and foremost!
Moreover, for the organization and competition of the first World Championship in Basketball there were a number of rules in the Deaf World Championships Regulations that were not observed by the concerned parties, including by the supposed rules enforcers - Lovett, the CISS President, and Ammons, the CISS Secretary General, themselves, or by their own CISS representatives, who supervised the Athens event on their behalf: the CISS Sports Director and CISS Technical Director in Basketball.
Let me cite the names of seven additional and different rule violations of the Deaf World Championships Regulations:
Rule WC 2 B
Rule WC 2 G
Rule WC 2 H
Rule WC 5 A
Rule WC 8 A
Rule WC 13 A
Rule WC 13 B.
Time and space do not permit me to describe in detail the definition of each of the above rule as well as the reasons of rule violations, which were commited by the concerned persons and organizations, who were in charge of organizing the just-ended World Basketball Championship.
It should also be noted that Lovett and Ammons failed to follow the Rule WC 1 F from the very start.
Under their administration and supervision, they publicized the Athens event as the July 18-28, 2002 date period event, which meant that the event's duration was to be lasted eleven days. On the other hand, the HAFD Organizing Committee and the DIBF officials together had a slightly different date period, such as July 19-27, 2002, which translated the event's duration into nine days.
In both cases, the CISS superiors, the Greek organizers and the DIBF officials violated the Deaf World Championships Regulations' Rule WC 1 F, which states the following,
"the duration of the Deaf World Championships will be no longer than seven days."
Additionally, there is another relevant rule called Rule WC 4 D ( " the National Association ( or the HAFD Organizing Committee ) shall forward to the CISS within thirty days a provisional result for the Championship, which then will be printed in the CISS Bulletin ( now, the CISS e-News Magazine )".
Although the Athens event ended on July 27 and today is August 2, 2002, Lovett and Ammons, after reading this material, will still have sufficient time to request the Greek organizers to observe that rule by submitting to the CISS the Championship's results in a timely manner, so this way, Lovett and Ammons as well as the Greeks will not again violate another new rule like the Rule WC 4 D.
THE UNFAIR TREATMENT TOWARD THE IMAFD
I cautiously raise the issue of the Rule WC D 4 compliance because last year there were held the July 15-18 World Championships in Martial Arts in Ostia, Italy, and in which the two organzations - the CISS and the International Martial Arts Federation of the Deaf ( IMAFD ), an Associate member of the CISS - were involved. The problem was that Lovett and Ammons violated that Rule WC D 4 because, they, to date, have failed to publish in their flashy CISS Website's e-News Magazine any results of the 2001 World Championships in various disciplines of Martial Arts.
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For comparison, the CISS under the Lovett-Ammons administration in 2000 found the room to publish the results of the Deaf World Championship in Golf held in Sun City, South Africa in its then CISS Bulletin issue pages. This Golf event was solely held under the auspices of the Deaf World Golf Council ( WDGC ), which is, unlike the IMAFD, was not and still is not an Associate member of the CISS. The irony was that the IMAFD, the CISS member since 1999, got no publicity and no due recognition of its 1999 ( the 1999 World Championships were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina ) and 2001 World Championships results in the CISS publications, while the WDGC, the non-CISS member, got a good deal of its events' coverage in the CISS Bulletin publication pages two straight times in 1998 and 2000
( the WDGC also organized its World Championship in 1998 in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, USA )..
This is not the way to treat a respected international organization like the IMAFD by the CISS superiors!
The IMAFD pays its $200.00 Associate membership dues annually to the CISS, therefore, both Lovett and Ammons should have treated the IMAFD accordingly by strictly observing and enforcing the certain rule!
A RARE PUBLIC SHOWDOWN IN DAVOS: PINKHASOV PINCHAS' 4/2 RULE FORMULA
VS. JORDAN'S 4/3 RULE FORMULA
Now, you see, realize and, hopefully, understand in what irresponsible and incompetent manner both Lovett and Ammons handled the World Championships business in the last four years by violating so many different rules!
The sad fact is that the rules in the World Championships Regulations, like in the Deaflympic Games Regulations, believe it or not, were produced by the four members of the CISS Legal Commission - Lovett, Ammons, Jerald Jordan and Rebecca Adam.
For the historical record, on March 6, 1999, as a representative of Uzbekistan, I attended the CISS Workshop Seminar in Davos, Switzerland. At that very Workshop Seminar, among the other things, the issue of the pending draft of the Rule WC 1 G was brought up and debated on the floor.
Jerald Jordan, the always-dominating and influential speaker, came to the floor podium to formally propose to accept his "4/3 rule formula" for the Rule WC 1 G ( the "4/3 rule formula" stood for four countries from three different regions in order to qualify the event as an official World Championship event ). Everyone in the room listened to Jordan's already-programmed unilateral proposal.
Then, suddenly and to Jordan's much annoying, a rare public showdown of idea/opinion difference got surfaced at the Workshop Seminar's spacious room. By instantly completing my thorough and diligent homework on the status of sports practiced among the deaf worldwide in advance, I was the one who directly challenged the Jordan proposal on the floor. I presented to the attendees my more flexible "4/2 rule formula" ( that is, four countries from two regions in order to qualify the event as an official World Championship event ) proposal.
At the floor podium, among the other things, I advocated the "4/2 rule formula" acceptance as as a viable and workable formula by citing, for example, the facts that such sports like water polo, orienteering, nordic skiing and ice hockey would have a very hard time to gain the World Championship event status for their respective sports now and in the foreseeable future with the Jordan-proposed "4/3 rule formula." I also by heart cited the examples that ice hockey among the deaf was played in just two regions - Europe ( Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany and Austria ) and the Americas ( USA and Canada only), while orienteering was not practiced among the deaf in the regions of Asia./Pacific and Africa.
Many in the room reacted favorably to my "4/2 rule formula" idea. But...
As time goes on, I now realize that the CISS Legal Commission - in a very biased and undemocratic manner - somehow chose to ignore my liberally-flexible and widely-accepted "4/2 rule formula" proposal. Instead, these CISS Legal Commission members went all the way out to wholeheartedly support that "genial and top-rated advisor" Jordan by including the requirement of his publicly-proposed rule of the three regions for an event to qualify as a World Championship event!
In spite of the above, to this day, I do still believe that the current Rule WC 1 G is a very bad rule for our deaf sports world!
Now, for certain reason, I predict, for instance, that there will be held no World Championship in Orienteering, which the Lovett-led CISS is currently publicizing, via its CISS website, to arrange in Meggido, Israel, the first week of April, 2003!
THE DEAFLYMPIC GAMES RULE 7. E AND RULE WC 1 G
Back to the CISS Legal Commission.
It is my belief, for a variety of logical reasons and facts, that this Commission wrote the two most obnoxiously disastrous and controversial rules:
1. the Deaflympic Games Rule 7. E, and
2. the Rule WC 1 G.
In the past, I have already spoken two times out about the very questionable Deaflympic Games Rule 7.E issue ( read my website materials by logging to
www.deafsportlawsuit.com/update2.html and
www.deafsportlawsuit.com/update16.html ).
Interestingly, the CISS Home Office via its www.deaflympics.com has been advertising the coming Deaflympic Winter Games in Sweden by falsely telling the world that "approximately 1,000 deaf athletes from at least 25 countries will compete in four sports" at the coming Winter Games in Sundsvall. Where and how have Lovett and Ammons gotten these dreamily eye-catching figures like "1,000 deaf athletes from 25 countries"? These are very inflated, irresponsibly exaggerated and quite misleading figures as the Winter Games never attracted such a large number of athletes and countries before. For example, at the last Winter Games held in Davos, Switzerland, in 1999, there were just 208 athletes from just 17 nations competing!
In spite of the above, I am still curiously awaiting to see as to how both Lovett and Ammons will handle the Rule 7.E in regard to the coming Deaflympic Winter Games in 2003. To date, the CISS Home Office has not publicly released the name of nations that sent preliminary registration forms for the 2003 Deaflympic Winter Games competitions in four different sports.
More specifically, will Lovett and Ammons allow the following sports - ice hockey, men's nordic skiing, women's nordic skiing, men's snowboarding and women's snowboarding - to be played as official medal events of the upcoming Deaflympic Winter Games in Sundsvall , Sweden, in 2003 in case each of these sports will not exactly meet the Deaflympic Games Rule 7.E requirement?
WHO INVENTED THE RULES 7.E AND WC 1 G?
Now, you may ask a cardinal question: who invented the two rules - the Deaflympic Games Rule 7.E and the Rule WC 1G, which undoubtedly harm the progress and development of our small and close-knit deaf international sports movement?
Let me present to you my brief analysis, arguments and conclusion to this very touchy question., which will help to locate the real culprits of the these two rules' creations.
Number One: Remember the 33rd CISS Congress which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1993. It was a female delegate from Australia, who was a Lovett disciple and who successfully proposed to accept at least five countries to be registered for any sports in order for it to be considered as an official medal event at the Deaflympic Games - both Summer and Winter. It is my steadfast stance that without Lovett's blessing, clandestine meddling and coaching, that female Australian delegate would not be intellectually bold enough to single-handledly formulate and propose such a rule like " five countries/a medal event." The fact was and still remains that it was Lovett, then "neutral" first Vice President of the CISS, who "pushed" - albeit in a covert and indirect way - the "five countries/a medal event" rule idea at the CISS Congress in 1993!
Number Two: As I explained above, in Davos, it was Jordan who influenced to push to propose his own
"4/3 rule formula". It was also Jordan who advocated the idea of "three regions", which was a very clear indication that he was the key architect of the Rule WC 1 G!
Number Three: Consider a combination idea of Jordan ( "three regions" ) and Lovett ( "five countries" ). Thus, the former and present CISS Presidents were the ones who eventually contributed to the drafting and final acceptance of both the Deaflympic Games Rule 7.E and the Rule WC 1 G in the books.
This way I can now argumentatively conclude that Lovett and Jordan were the ones who jointly invented these two already very disastrous rules! These two rules - both identical in its numerical contents ( like "5 countries and 3 regions"), let me reiterate, are a huge and unnecessary impediment to our deaf sports world , competitively and organizationally!
Thus, as the CISS doyen, CISS Honorary Life Member and supposed role model for everyone, Jordan, should have with his professionalism and prudency utilized all his experience, expertise and wisdom in assisting the other three inadequately-qualified CISS Legal Commission members to produce the realistically viable rules for the three "Bibles" of the CISS - CISS Constitution, Deaflympic Games Regulations and Deaf World Championships Regulations.
Instead, very regretfully and quite unfortunately, Jordan, the only deaf holder of the Olympic Order Award and 1994 Gallaudet University honorary doctorate degree recipient, spent considerable amount of his valuable time, energy and will to clandestinely pursue his long-sought scheme to sophisticatedly mastermind and then successfully execute the friendship and business break-up between Lovett and Ammons, on the one side, and Pinkhasov Pinchas, on the other side, in 2001!
In 1995, Jordan, among the other things, left the organization of the CISS as its President in a state of stagnation and financial impoverishment. Now, Jordan again impoverished the image of the CISS by acting as a leading architect of his fantasyingly-and-unrealistically-created rules like the Rules 7.E and WC 1 G! No question, Jordan's involvement with these rules' inventing are undoubtedly stagnating the development and progress of our deaf sports world in various ways!
In the sum, let history judge as to what kind of legacy that Pinkhasov Pinchas-paranoid Jordan is leaving to our future generations in general and to our deaf international sports movement in particular!
THE SANDRA BALDWIN RESIGNATION-TYPE ACT
Will Jordan and Lovett - with their own ego and pride - publicly accept the blame on their very own shoulders for their creating and advocating - directly and indirectly - these two very stupid rules, which have already uprooted so many unnecessary problems ( more are coming ) for our deaf international sports community, including the non-possibility in awarding the richly-deserving women's USA basketball team the honorable title of the world champion in an official way?
In my many dealings with the two CISS Presidents in office in the past, I have carefully observed that the two, especially Jordan, have their own very rare human skills.
For example, whenever the stern-looking, sly and sharp-tongued Jordan ( I began my dealings with him at his then windowless Gallaudet University office room in 1975) would be caught with his own act of misdeed or wrongdoing, he readily and instantly would utilize his unique human ability in turning things around so that it would appear that he ( Jordan ) would be blameless and everyone else would be at fault!
As for Lovett as the current chief CISS supervisor, last and this year, he was, for example, implicated with the preparation of the two errors-tainted publication books - THE CISS REVIEW 2001 ( see by logging at www.deafsportlawsuit.com/update4.html) and the FISS-produced OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE XIXth DEAFLYMPIC SUMMER GAMES ( see by logging to www.deafsportlawsuit.com/update9.html ). When caught with his unprofessionally-edited contents' work of these two books and his inept supervision over these two books' projects, Lovett skillfully set himself free from blame and guilt for these two books' woes!
In spite of the above, again will the two CISS Presidents - past and present - still admit or acknowledge their acts of wrongful conduct and shortcomings, including their highly-questionable work as the members of the CISS Legal Commission?
Finally, just several weeks ago, the civilized sports world witnessed a very rare incident occurred during the still-ongoing meeting of the IOC members at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A very able and articulate female sports administrator, distinguished IOC member and President of the USA Olympic Committee, Miss Sandra Baldwin made a very classy act. She sobbingly left the IOC meeting in the middle by instantly and suddenly resigning from the top sports administration positions. She did so immediately after she learned that she was caught by a journalist, who discovered that she lied about her academic credentials in her resume! What was very unusual of the act by Miss Baldwin was that she resigned her powerful positions - at her own free will, without a fight or defense or rebuttal - voluntarily, uncontestedly, unselfishly and instantly with her own sound conscience and clean soul!
In our deaf sports administration/leadership world, who will, after commiting the act of wrongdoing or improperty or misdeed, be prepared to follow the already-described "Sandra Baldwin's classy act?"
In the meantime, do get prepared to listen more new problems - this time with the Deaflympic Games Rule 7 E - related to the coming Deaflympic Winter Games in Sweden in 2003!
Sportingly Yours,
Rafael Pinkhasov Pinchas
www.deafsportlawsuit.com
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